Why credit cards?
When they are used correctly, credit cards can be a great way to earn additional rewards on your purchases while also providing purchase protection and other benefits (such as no foreign transaction fees). The downside of them however is that it can be very easy to fall into the credit card trap of going into debt since you don’t have to pay them off all at once. This is why it’s important to always pay your credit cards off in full at the end of the month.
What are “Cents-per-Mile”?
Info
(Information is sourced from this Bankrate article)
The value of airline and hotel rewards vary dramatically between rewards programs and booking details, ranging in value from roughly 0.4 cents per point or mile to 3 cents per point or mile. Many general travel credit cards earn rewards that can be redeemed at one value for travel with the issuer, usually 1.0 cent per point, or transferred to an airline or hotel program and redeemed at another (potentially higher) value.To see how much value you can get out of your rewards on an individual flight or hotel stay, divide the cost of a booking in cash by its cost in points or miles.
For example, a flight that costs $139 or 21,500 points will offer about 0.6 cents per point in value ($139 / 21,500 points = ~$0.006). If the same flight costs $250, you’d get about 1.2 cents per point in value ($250 / 21,500 points = ~$0.012).
Keep in mind that the value you can get out of your rewards will depend not only on the program but also the details of your booking. Some airline and hotel rewards carry a better point value than others on average, but your experience may vary based on when and where you travel, as well as whether you opt for a luxury or budget fare class or hotel tier.
My Setup
BILT Blue
- When I first got the BILT Mastercard, this credit card was considered by many people to be a cheat code or broken since it had no annual fee and earned insane points back (I actually ended up cancelling my Chase Sapphire Preferred because the BILT offered the same services, without the annual fee) but since they split the BILT card into three tiers, it’s value has dropped off a cliff
- I keep the BILT Blue as my “rent/mortgage” card, it purely exists to allow me to earn points on my rent, and is linked to my bank account using their “BILT Pay” system
- I don’t even keep this card in my wallet anymore since it’s only for rent
- Rewards:
- 1 point per dollar on rent through BILT Pay
- 1 point per dollar on everyday spend
Capital One Savor Rewards
- The Capital One Savor card serves as my primary food/entertainment card due to high cash-back value on groceries and takeout as well as cash-back on streaming
- Since I also have the Venture X I can convert my cashback into miles if I so choose, so it’s a create duo to keep around
- The conversion happens at a rate of 100 miles per dollar of cashback
- Rewards:
- 8% cash back on Capital One Entertainment
- 5% cash back on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 3% cash back at grocery stores/dining/entertainment/streaming
- 1% everywhere else
Capital One Venture X
- The Venture X card is the x-factor in my personal setup, as it serves as my catch-all card as well as my travel card
- My family lives far away from me and I also like travelling, so a dedicated travel card makes sense for me
- Capital One Transfer Partners allow transfers at an average of 2 cents-per-mile
- Rewards:
- 10 Miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 5 Miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel
- 2 Miles per dollar on all other purchases
- $300 annual travel credit for travel booked through Capital One
- 10,000 miles anniversary bonus for keeping the card
- $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck